Vehicle restraint control modules are used to control deployment of air bags or other types of safety restraints during a collision. Restraint control modules must be protected to accurately and timely deploy safety restraints. Damage to the restraints control module in a severe collision can cause the module to break or be damaged. A broken restraints control module may result in an unplanned deployment or may affect deployment timing.
Vehicles are tested in a wide variety of collision tests. As shown in FIG. 1, one type of test is the 75° Oblique Left Side Test in which a vehicle 10 is driven on a movable cart into a 10 inch pole 12 at 20.7 mph. As shown in FIG. 2, less than 10 cm of spacing may be provided between the seat track 14 and the restraints control module 16. The seat tracks 14 securing the front seats of the vehicle 10 to the floor 18 may become detached and if they move more than 10 cm may cause damage to the restraints control module 16 that is attached to the floor 18, or tunnel, between the seats. As shown in FIG. 3, the restraints control module 16 may be attached to the floor 18 by a bracket 20.
The above problems and other problems are addressed by this disclosure as summarized below.